Sports Illustrated Crowns Broadway Joe as Jets’ All-time Best Draft Pick

Matt Verderame identified the top choice for all 32 NFL teams with Namath representing Gang Green

Current general manager Joe Douglas wasn’t born until 11 years after the New York Jets made the celebrated pick.

Gang Green altered the trajectory of National Football League history when team brass selected Alabama quarterback Joe Willie Namath first overall in the 1965 AFL Draft.

Namath, who would serve as an inspiration behind the eventual AFL-NFL merger, won back-to-back AFL MVP awards and led the Jets to a Super Bowl III victory over the vaunted Baltimore Colts.

Developing into a cultural icon of sorts, “Broadway Joe,” who went onto to establish himself as an actor, will always be known for guaranteeing a Super Bowl victory in 1969.

It should come as no surprise that Namath represents the Jets in Matt Verderame’s recent article. The Sports Illustrated scribe selected the “Best Draft Pick of All Time for Each NFL Team” and naturally chose the Hall-of-Fame quarterback to carry the banner for Gang Green.

Verderame explained his methodology behind forming the list, writing, “This is about the best player ever drafted by a team, not the best value ever found by the club.”

New York Jets: Joe Namath, QB, 1965

“Few players have ever been more important to pro football than Namath. Selected by both the Jets and Cardinals when the AFL and NFL had separate drafts, New York outbid St. Louis and altered the course of history.

Namath engineered an incredible upset in Super Bowl III, winning MVP honors in a 16–7 win over the Colts. Despite horrid knees, Namath was a two-time AFL Player of the Year and a five-time Pro Bowler, while also becoming the first pro passer to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. He ultimately became a Hall of Famer in 1985.” 

- Matt Verderame

Namath has remained an ambassador for the Jets’ franchise as he approaches 80 years old. This past January, he addressed the team’s need for an accomplished quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.

Speaking as a radio guest on WFAN's “Tiki and Tierney Show,” Namath expressed a willingness to have Rodgers wear the Jersey No. 12 that the Jets retired in Namath’s name.

Jets' legendary quarterback Joe Namath :: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com

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